Breech-loading gun



(ModeL) 0. W. HORR.

BREEOH LOADING GUN.

Patented Aug. 11, 1885.

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N PETERS. Fl'cAo-Lnhu rwhnn Washington. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTIS \VYMAN HOItR, OF GIIIUOPEE FALLS, MASSAUIIUSETIS.

BREECH-LOADING GUN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 323,936, dated August 11, 1885.

Application filed May 25, 1885. (Model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Gus Vt". Hons, of Ohioopee Falls, in the county of lIampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Guns, of which the following is a specifi- Cation.

My invention relates to breech-loading guns; and the invention consists in a novel construc tion and arrangement of the breech mechanism, whereby the movement of the lever forces the hammer back to half-coek, opens the breech, and operates the extractor, all as hereinafter more fully set forth.

Figure 1 is a Side elevation, with one side plate of the frame or receiver removed, show ing the breech closed. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the manner of forcing the hammer to the half-cocked position. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the breech opened and the mannor of operating the extractor; and Fig. 4 is an inside face view of a portion of the side plate detached, showing the elbow-lever which operates the extractor.

To construct a gun on my plan I provide a frame or receiver, A, of box form, having two side plates, G and G, one or both of which for convenience may be made detachable, if desired, and to which the barrel B is secured in any suitable manner. I then construct a brceclr piece, 0, of the form shown, it having a forwardly-extending arm, N, which is pivoted at 1 to the side plates near their front end, some distance in front of and below the rear end of the barrel, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, so it shall swing in the are of a circle of which the pivot I is the center when opened and closed. It carries a spring firing-pin, m, of the usual construction for exploding the primer. The rear end of this breech-piece G is made of such a form that when closed it will bear against the solid abutment a of the frame, as shown in Fig. 1, so that it is held firmly in place, and the pivot I is relieved from the concussion and strain incident to the firing of the charge, it being transmitted through the breeclrpiece G to the abutment a in rear thereof.

The hammer II with its tumbler are made in a single piece, as shown, the front side of its body being slightly inclined backward from the point v upward, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, thus leaving a slight angle or projection at that point.

A handlever, L, is pivoted to the lower side of the frame by a screw, D, as shown. Its inner end or arm, L, is made of such a length that when the breech is closed its upper end bears against the under side of the swinging breechpiece and locks or braces it securely in position, as shown in Fig. 1, there heinga slight projection, i, on the breech-piece at the point where the arm L bears against it, and the end of the arm L being rounded at its corners in front and rear, so as to permit it to swing past the bearing-point in opening and closing the breech. It will be observed by examining Fig. 1 that the bearing-point i of the breeclrpiece rests slightly in rear of the center of the most elevated portion of the end of arm L when the breech is closed, the result of which is that any downward pressure of the breech-piece caused by the firing of the gun or otherwise, operates on the rearwardly-inclined or rounded surface of the arm L, and thus tends to hold the lever in its closed position, the arm L at the same time, as before explained, holding the breeelrpieeeiu its closed position, thus rendering the arm safe and dispensing with the use of spring-catches and all similar devices for locking the lever or brceclrpiece.

Ihe arm L is connected to the breech-piece C by a link,f, one end of which is pivoted by a pin, 0, to the rear side of the arm L, as shown, said link having a slot, i, cut in it a short distance from its opposite end, the link passing through a slot cut in the rear lower side of the breeclrpicce, and there being a pin, b, passing transversely through the breechpiece and the slot t of link], as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, the operation of which will be hereinafter described.

A sliding extractor, g, is arranged at the under side of the barrel for withdrawing the can tridge-shell in the usual manner, the stem of this extractor being provided with a lateral projection or arm, Z, (shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3,) which projects out far enough to engage with the upright arm ofan elbow-lever, 71 pivoted to the inner face of the side plate, G, as shown in Fig. 4, and by the dotted lines in Figs. 11, 2, and 3. Projecting from the side of the breech-piece U isa pin, a, as shown in Figs. 

